The Christmas presents are open, and the New Year’s celebrations are finished.
That means it’s time to “Bring One for the Chipper.”
Keep Bulloch Beautiful hosts the annual event, during which Christmas trees are recycled into wood chips that can be used as mulch or wildlife habitat.
Trees may be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday at Anderson’s General Store, 23736 U.S. Highway 80 E., or the Public Works Building in Brooklet. In exchange for your tree, you will receive a free tree seedling.
If you want to dispose of your tree before Saturday, you may drop it off at any of the 17 recycling centers in Bulloch County. You can receive a voucher for a free seedling, then present the voucher at Anderson’s to get the seedling.
Christmas tree recycling programs like “Chipper” support eco-friendly holiday efforts that have a greater influence. Real trees are a renewable, recyclable resource while artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics usually manufactured in China.  “Chipper” trees will be recycled into mulch for playgrounds, public beautification projects, wildlife habitat and homeowner landscaping projects. 
“Recycling Christmas tree helps our community by saving valuable landfill space,” said Kelly Collingsworth, the director of Keep Bulloch Beautiful. “When chipped into mulch, cut trees become valuable organic material used in landscaping projects. Trees can also be placed on lakes and ponds to be used as fish habitats. The trees attract fish of all sizes for a number of reasons. Small fish eat the aquatic insects that find a home in the tree branches. Small fish also use the trees as escape areas from the larger fish that eat them. As a result, the fishing is improved around the trees because more fish are congregated in these areas.”
Since 1991, Bring One for the Chipper has collected nearly 6 million trees and provided more than a million tree seedlings to participants. The program produces tangible environmental benefits while helping local governments comply with state regulations that prohibit the disposal of yard trimmings in lined municipal landfills.
Bring One for the Chipper is sponsored locally by Chick-fil-A of Statesboro, the City of Brooklet and Anderson’s General Store. For more information, call Keep Bulloch Beautiful at (912) 764-6147 and visit www.facebook.com/keepbullochbeautiful or www.keepbullochbeautiful.org.